Aurora officer who fired four shots at fleeing suspect cleared of criminal charges

An Aurora police officer has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing for firing four shots at a man who was fleeing police on foot along a busy intersection.

Officer David Krieger’s use of force was “reasonable, justified and appropriate,” according to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office.

On March 28, Krieger and several other officers were assisting Denver police in apprehending Alfredo Guttieres, who was suspected of kidnapping his girlfriend at gun point, according to an officer-involved shooting summary addressed to Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz, signed on June 4 by Deputy DA Larry Bailey.

Guttieres was wanted on a warrant out of Denver for two counts of felony menacing and one count of illegal discharge of a firearm (for shooting into an occupied vehicle), according to the summary.

David Gross, a Denver fugitive detective, spotted Guttieres driving out of Denver into Aurora, and Aurora police were notified. Information about Guttieres shared with Aurora police included a description of “multiple posts on Facebook showing (Guttieres) shooting firearms,” the summary said. Krieger was among the officers who received the information.

Guttieres, driving a Chevrolet Malibu, pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot near East Iliff Avenue and South Buckley Road and was in a drive-thru lane when Aurora police boxed his sedan in with an unmarked SUV in front and an unmarked pickup truck in the back. Guttieres bolted from the car and a foot chase began.

Krieger, with his handgun drawn, chased Guttieres. During the chase, Krieger feared that Guttieres was armed, based in part on the reported armed kidnapping, the summary said. During successive, quick intervals, Krieger fired one shot at Guttieres, then two more shots, and finally a fourth shot. None of the shots hit Guttieres.

In firing the first shot, Krieger believed he saw Guttieres holding a handgun and turning back toward Krieger, the summary said. Two following shots were fired as Guttieres was running toward a Burger King, which had customers inside, and Krieger feared Guttieres may take a hostage. The two shots were described in the summary as an attempt to stop a possible hostage situation.

Guttieres was running between the Burger King and a car wash when Krieger fired a final shot, intentionally shooting low, hitting the ground between him and Guttieres, in an attempt to take the fleeing suspect down with a “skip shot.”

“Krieger felt shooting directly at Guttieres would endanger citizens in the strip mall parking lot because the bullet would travel further at a higher level than a skipped shot,” the summary said.

As Guttieres ran left around the car wash, he was apprehended by several officers who had approached from the opposite direction. No other shots were fired. No weapon was found along the route Guttieres had fled. A handgun was found in the Malibu, the summary said.

Krieger’s body camera had been placed on the dashboard of the pickup truck, which he used to pin in the Malibu. When he dashed after Guttieres, Krieger left the camera behind on the dashboard. “As a result no cameras recorded the foot chase or shots fired,” the summary said.

“Officer Krieger’s primary fear was for the safety of citizens Guttieres would encounter as he fled from officers,” the summary said. “Krieger knew that Guttieres had been armed with a handgun earlier that day and believed he was still armed.

“When firing each of the four shots at Guttieres, Officer Krieger had reasonable grounds to believe, and did believe, that he or another person was in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving great bodily injury.”

The summary, based on public safety considerations, concludes Krieger was “justified in using or attempting to use deadly force.”